Tons of women have issues shifting the front derailleur. Like others have said, it usually does come down to a combination of hand strength and cable housing routing.

Also, most manufacturers build their bikes with Jagwire housing or a house brand that is likely made by Jagwire. This also makes an enormous difference. Jagwire sucks. A lot. Shell out a little coin to have Shimano housing installed and you'll notice a significant improvement. There's a lot less friction in Shimano housing.

I also highly recommend Di2 to anyone. It's super awesome being able to just push a button and make the derailleur shift. Plus, once it's set up, you don't really have to adjust it unless you change wheels.